


The Meaning Of Altruism

by ZeAwesomeness



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Character-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28199688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeAwesomeness/pseuds/ZeAwesomeness
Summary: When Ladybug and Chat Noir make their grand debut as superheroes they gain attention world wide. Soon new heroes with unforeseen supernatural abilities are arising along with villains harbouring equally terrifying capabilities.It doesn’t take long for this to reach a secret government organization that works against anomalies. In return they send out their worst monster to kill Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois/Original Character(s), Natalie Sancoeur/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 9





	1. Monsters Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A monster arrives in Paris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://cyclepath28.tumblr.com/post/638064635840446464/some-art-i-made-for-chapter-1-of-my-new-mlb

**FRANCE24** _@FRANCE24_

DEVELOPING: new superheroes Chat Noir and Ladybug save Paris from evil supervillain!?

**Alya Césaire** _@Alya_Ladyblogger_

I'm about to start the greatest. blog. EVER!! OMG!!! #ladybug #blog #ladybugisthebest https://instagram.com/alya.ladyblogger?igshid=1cx5tm2pzrnt3

**André Bourgeois** _@André.Bourgeois_

Citizens of Paris, please rest assured we are doing everything within our power to handle these heroes and villains. To do your part please report any suspicious activity to your nearest police station or call 122. Thank you for your time and patience in this matter.

**NinoNeato** _@Nino000_

Wow cant believe I live in an anime smh. Bet _@AdrienAgreste_ is looking forward to all the live action haha

**  
CNEWS** _@CNEWS_

BREAKING NEWS: PARIS HAS ITS OWN SUPERHEROES NOW? DO WE FEAR THEM OR LOVE THEM?

**Red_Queen** _@Olivia.Woods69_

Ah, this is so scary! The hospital I’m working at is prepping for so many people to start coming in. Is everyone doing okay??

________________________

Neallustrator

So we just gonna pretend this guy didn't straight up show outta nowhere and try destroying Paris? Okay, that's totally cool...

  
  


Gaja ➥

We also gonna just pretend two superheroes didn't also very conveniently show up at the same time and "magically" fix it? Or that they conveniently were able to save everyone? Kinda sus if you ask me?

ChloeIsBest ↳

Okay srsly all u ppl saying Ladybug and Chat Noir have ulterior motives need to shut tf up, their superheroes!!! What the hell is wrong with u all?!?!??

@RosesRRed ↳

You can't just tell people to stop discussing something this big or not to question the motives of people who, as we all saw, easily destroyed Paris like it was nothing. We were really lucky today that nobody died but if any human had been on the receiving end of whatever those things did it would have been a very different story. So, no, I say screw Ladybug. Screw Chat Noir. Screw this Hawkmoth. Just screw them all. Paris was fine before any of them showed up and all they've done is create messes, fixed their own messes, and are being called heroes for it? If I didn't know any better I'd say they’re working together to manipulate us all.

________________________

When you've lost everything, you'll become everything.

That's what Noel believes. Her eyes stayed stuck on her phone as she scrolled past the barrage of tweets. It was so much attention from the media that Noel almost felt slightly sick over it. She turned off her phone before turning to the file reports in her lap, scanning the words over-and-over yet failing to fully grasp the situation or even how to go about what was happening. It felt so overwhelming and her stomach was already tying itself into knots trying to decipher these new heroes or their motives. Nobody does all of that for nothing in return.

The car rocked in a deceivingly domestic manner as she continued reading the official recounts. If it wasn't for the reality of her situation she would think everything about this was fine and normal. Perhaps a bit too luxurious but otherwise an everyday occurrence. But she couldn't let any tension slip out of her body, not even for a moment, it was like she instinctively knew. She knew if she dropped her guard for even a second **that thing wouldn't hesitate to kill her.**

Her gaze drifted up to it lounging on the other seat of the limo, gagged and overtly handcuffed with an IV-drip of unknown substances seeping into its frail body. The Evello Foundation did not take its transfer procedures lightly when it came to these monsters it seems.

  
  


Sitting before her was M-144, a catatonic class humanoid with dangerous mental instability and even more unpredictable anomalous effects. His hair was split black and white with equally heterochromic eyes following every swipe or touch she made on her iPad. Its glassy eyed interest never strayed far from her— an untold intensity undeniably laying deeper against the induced drugged fog. Her eyes trailed the scar running down its right eye. She pondered if that had something to do with the acute state it appeared to be in despite all the drugs coursing through.

_Why did they send this monster of all to do such a high risk mission?_

"M-144, do you understand me?" She gently coaxed from the creature who lazily looked up at her face.

All she needed was the slow nod of 'yes' to know it was coherent enough to relay information. Despite this she stared uneasily a bit longer, taking in the slouched figure with the surrounding medical equipment, before her gaze turned back to the device in her lap.

"Our assignment is not only lengthy but complicated because of public fame. We'll divide it into operational parts but the entire process will likely take years to successfully complete.”

“Due to the extended period of time you have been fitted with a highly advanced technological collar for restraining purposes as you have likely noted already." She gestured blankly at the seemingly innocent black collar around its neck. It could very easily be mistaken as a fashion choice to any ordinary citizen, but Noel knew better. If that thing was on an elephant it could kill it in seconds and it would only slow whatever this creature was. She read so in the files. "As protocol states 'if M-144 tries to: retaliate, flee, or go against foundation laws the handler is enabled to use any means necessary to sedate M-144.' Do you understand the consequences could be as severe as neutralization?"

M-144 stared blankly at her, physically unable to respond, but despite this she could see the way its eyes crinkled upwards, its lips trying to turn up into a smile. Its head, in a completely mechanical fashion, steadily dropped downward as its shoulders shook with voiceless laughter. The robotic motions were not human and without a doubt unnerving, but Noel had a job to do, "M-114, I need a sign you understand these basic terms and conditions."

Its eyes rolled up inside its head to eerily stare at her. It just kept observing her character as though seeing something Noel couldn't. It created an indescribably strange tension in the car regardless. Up until it finally nodded its confirmation to the details and whatever had hung in the air seemed to dissipate. Noel only shakily nodded along with it, not entirely certain why her body was trembling in the first place. _Maybe it was because this was her first serious job in the foundation?_

"This procedure will be taking place in Paris where hundreds of eyewitness reports have confirmed the existence of three humanoid creatures." Noel grabbed the remote sitting beside her and turned on the local news for reference where a reporter was already discussing Ladybug and Chat Noirs latest conquest. "For now they have been dubbed M-1300. We have categorized all three entities under the same label. The ladybug is M-1300-3 and the cat is M-1300-2. There has also been one more spotted that has frequently been referred to as "Hawkmoth." This one is far more hostile than the other two and was also the first to be spotted. Be careful of M-1300-1, it will very likely try to use its anomalous abilities on you if it sees you as a potential threat. For the time being they have all collectively been classified as humanoids."

Looking back now Noel realized the monster in front of her had narrowed its eyes towards the TV in a deeply concentrated glare. At least it seemed to be taking this job as seriously as her.

"For now we are being sent to investigate the location and creatures more thoroughly before we can decide on our course of action." Noel turned the TV off as she began breaching the divisional section of their work. "However, this mission will require a lot of undercover work. We have both been fitted with fake identities for this purpose, you may refer to me as Noel and I will refer to you as Achilles from now on."

M-14— _Achilles_ simply nodded off again.

Noel offered an extremely tight lipped smile that came off more as a grimace "I can't wait to begin working with you, Achilles."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaa okay so I’ve had this story idea since 2016 but since I was only a kid I didn’t have a lot of confidence writing it. Personally I still don’t because I have no consistency skills but I’ll try my best.
> 
> If you don’t like fanfictions where the protagonist is an original character or you don’t like when major things are changed from the canon plot line I recommend you just stop reading right here right now. This entire fic is heavily reliant on my OC’s and I changed a lot of the bad writing in MLB which will have a huge impact on the story.
> 
> If you’re cool with all of this though then please do continue to enjoy it!


	2. Makeover Fiasco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noel tries to have a fun shopping trip with Achilles but momentarily forgets he’s not human.

Achilles rubbed at his newly freed wrists, they still stung from the cuffs being too tight but it was a pain he’d grown used to long ago. As he stared at all the scars on his wrists he almost wished they’d just put the cuffs back on him to cover the grotesque sight. Almost.

Noel re-entered the room carrying even more luggage, from a glance alone he could tell it was more of his assigned medical equipment to sedate him.

As soon as they had arrived to the small and discreet apartment complex Noel had led him to this room, told him it was officially his own space, sternly told him to stay like a dog, then left. He considered getting up and leaving out of spite, he knew he would never make it far— especially considering she was still in the apartment— but he ultimately decided not to simply because the bed was cozy.

He wasn’t even sure why he liked it, it was similar to a motel bed of sorts, which was not an enjoyable experience. The mattress was hard, the wool blankets were itchy, stains covered white sheets, and every slight movement caused a creaking giving the entire thing an old-fashioned aesthetic. It just made him love it more for some reason.

The door opened again as Noel huffed out, a slight sheet of sweat covering her forehead. For such a tiny asian lady she sure was strong. Achilles eyed her up and down, he no longer had the gag and boy did he take advantage of that fact “wow, you look like horrible.” Noel whipped around, shocked to hear him speak for the first time it seems. “Did you just insult me?” Noel scrunched her nose in what Achilles assumed was her attempt at a glare, his was much scarier in comparison, this look was like a fearful puppy. “No, I was obviously complimenting you.”

She began pulling her hair out of the earlier hair tie as she rolled her eyes at him “we have to work together so can you at least be professional?” Achilles tilted his head in a confused manner “but isn’t honesty the best policy?”

She just looked at him.

This time she didn’t bother him with a response. Instead wordlessly pulling out mechanical parts, suitcases with the strange liquid, and medical tools. The rest of their morning seemed to pass like this.

After a couple of hours of Achilles just staring at the ceiling, forgetting the passage of time and Noel running around almost all day setting up the place, she finally asked something of him.

“Hey, Achilles?” He hummed his response, too zoned out to be particularly sarcastic towards her right now.

“Have you ever seen Paris?” She was looking at him with a frown, he could at the very least discern this was genuine curiosity from her. Honestly he wasn’t sure he’d ever left the facility before this? “If I had, I can’t recall” was his settled response. She tries offering him a smile but it’s still just as forced as the first “how about we go check out town then?” She seems to think and quickly add on “after you change your clothes of course.”

He groans and stretches his stiff joints “if you want to go investigate; just say so. You were the one who wanted to be professional after all.” She doesn’t respond to him again instead just leaving the room and quietly closing the door. Probably thinking he’s not worth a response like the rest of the flock

He slowly got off the bed, letting his limbs crack satisfyingly, as he reaches into the dresser with a few clothes already put away. They were all extremely simplistic, there was three white short sleeved shirts and two formal black pants that had the sterile stench of disinfectant clinging to them. He took off the more obvious medical clothing he’d been brought in with and quickly changed into the newly provided outfits. He felt stiffly formal in the uncomfortable material but shrugged it off, he had worn much worse anyways.

As he walked out Noel seemed to be fidgeting with something. He couldn’t bother to ask what before she was whirling around and placing hands on his head, he felt the light slap of some sort of fabric hit the top of his head. Did she give him a hat? She began adjusting whatever it was with a string before he found his vision in his right eye covered by something black. She finally let go of his head and hair to inspect her work, “there we go! Anomaly covered!” Achilles hands came up absentmindedly to play with the latest addition of outfit “did you just give me an eye patch?” Noel seemed proud, it seemed just having it covered gave her some strange reprieve from his bizarre appearance, especially as she approvingly nodded her head yes. Achilles however just found his face twisting into confusion “why?”

Now Noel seemed mildly confused at his inquiry “well, your right eye is all black and weird looking. The scar draws more attention we really don’t need. I figured it was part of whatever monster you are... _Is it not?”_

Achilles just stared. Truthfully he hadn’t look at his eyes too much. For some reason he just subconsciously avoided it. He flipped the eye patch up to look in the recently set up mirror. The eyes looking back at him were very alien and he found himself growing uncomfortable fast now that he was meeting his own unhinged gaze. “Uh no, no it’s not natural.” He hesitantly voiced before Noel reached forward and flipped the eye patch back down “then, please, **keep it covered.”**

Achilles just wordlessly nodded as Noel led him out of the apartment.

The streets were bustling with people and the white noise was quick to envelope the two as they made their way to the car. It was an inconspicuous vehicle. Some sort of off colour green looking car, he didn’t particularly care as he climbed into the passenger seat, it did its job so that’s all that mattered. Noel climbed into the drivers seat and easily began driving away into the big city. Achilles curiously watched all the humans pandering around, not a care in the world. For such an intelligent species they sure didn’t act like it.

All too soon they arrived at the Carrousel Du Louvre, a fairly large mall in Paris.

Noel ended up dragging him through five hours of what she called a “makeover.”  
First they visited a salon where a hair stylist dyed his two toned hair completely black, the man was nice enough to even paint his nails rainbow simply because he had “liked his company.” He didn’t really understand why, all he’d done was respond in sarcastic quips but the guy had just laughed light heartedly regardless. Noel looked both uncomfortable and curious for the entire interaction. He’d questioned her but she’d just blushed and told him that she wouldn’t pry if he didn’t want her to. He was more confused.

Next they visited an eye care centre who checked his scarred eye to see if they could do anything about it. They were there, in total, for four hours. By then an entire team had gathered and explained he had the most severe cases of: iritis, hyphema and coloboma they’d ever seen. Stating it was a miracle he had his vision at all and only as monocular diplopia. Although it was reportedly very difficult to diagnose due to the lack of visible blood. It both perplexed and deeply worried them as it could be more internal bleeding. It took a lot of persuasion on Noels part not to have the team look more into why there was no blood in his eye despite the obvious damage and not to have him immediately sent to the ER. The walk out was very tense as everyone watched them leave with different degrees of horror on their faces. They had reasonably decided to just stick with the eye patch method in the meantime, not daring to approach it with a civilian again in case it did actually harbour some anomalous properties.

Eventually they got to the clothing stores, they ended up going to multiple, and by lunch Achilles found himself carrying five ridiculously oversized bags. “Noel, I understand that you a professional and ergo absolutely know what you’re doing.” He began with his usual sarcastic undertone as Noel gushed about how cute he would look in this random rainbow sweater she’d picked. He was almost certain the clothes weren’t for him anymore, they were mostly for her but she was using the excuse they were for him. “However I have come to the conclusion you are also an idiot.” Noel pouted at him, _childishly_. He could barely comprehend that this woman, now dressed in pink overalls and a white long sleeve shirt, was the same lady who had escorted him into a shady apartment complex earlier wearing a suit.

Was she relaxing around him or was he just becoming more crazy?

“Look we’re going to be living together for the next couple years, right?” He hesitantly nodded, not sure of her point, “therefore we’re going to be getting to know each other whether we like it or not.” She turned back around to some of the brightly coloured clothing. He dully noted in the back of his mind she was still tense; but less tense than their initial encounter. “So, we should be ourselves as much as possible and hopefully get along,” Noel seemed to pause for a moment, perhaps stalling for some sort of but, however her voice come back into something soft “at least _I would like to get to know you past the monster?”_ Achilles was perplexed to say the least. If there was any point to her words he was almost certain it flew over his head.

Instead he just stared down at the rainbow sweater in his hands, mind turbulent as he tried to understand her words. Noel seemed to notice him thinking her gesture over repeatedly and instead gave another tight lipped smile “look, I’ll give you time to think the offer over, okay? Just... please don’t run off. I’ll be at the front of the store.” She walked away and all Achilles could really do was stand there with the odd clothing in hand.

He could leave, he could run away so easily right now, at the very least cause a public scene as some sort of cry for help. But he wasn’t like that. He knew it was useless. However that wasn’t his core motivation for not doing any of those things. Not this time.

_He realized he just didn’t want to._

Noel was... _nice_. She seemed misguided but he couldn’t deny her attempts at friendship had a level of sincerity he rarely saw in his line of work. Would he ever get a chance like this again? He wasn’t sure.

There was a small commotion at the other side of the store and curiously Achilles looked up. There were two teenagers approaching him, fast. Due to the angle he was situated he couldn’t see the other kid, only that he was a boy, struggling to hold back the girl. She ended up ripping her arm away from him aggressively with a shout and he could now clearly see the woman approaching him with swaying blonde hair. She had a very tight lipped smile, face scrunched together as though angry and her burning blue eyes were fixated on him alone. She stopped a mere two feet away only to loudly cough, was she sick? “Uhm, excuse me?” She began in a grating tone “I noticed you’re holding a pride shirt, you wouldn’t happen to be gay, would you?”

That did give him some pause. Was he happy? He looked down to his shoes contemplatively. This entire trip had admittedly not been terrible. Noel had tried her best to break the ice between them despite his clear hostility towards her. He was usually more volatile and aggressive but he actually found it harder to be like that towards her so... maybe? Maybe this was the happiest he could ever get? Maybe it was short lived but in the present time he did feel okay. “For now; yes, yes I am very likely that.” The girl gasped dramatically, as though he’d insulted her entire lineage with that single comment, “how could you be so open about something that disgusting?!”

Achilles squinted his singular eye at her before leaning back. He blinked a couple times, rubbed his eye for good measure, leaned a little closer again to get a better look at her face then... “wow, that sure is weird then because the only gross thing I see right now is you.”

He heard the snort from the boy then the following horrified gasp as she slapped him.

He didn’t flinch nor move at all but he’d gone dead silent as the lady huffed and puffed. Her entire face bright red with anger. This had certainly progressed beyond his understanding, usually back in containment if anyone else had done that he’d just mindlessly throw them across the room— his body was tense holding back such an instinctive response. He could not throw people into walls though, he was very firmly told so. It was impolite. The boy was once again hurrying to hold back his friend and he was preparing to leave the scene and wonder back to Noel when— he stopped.

He wasn’t sure what made him stop but the moment his eyes landed on the boy he could physically feel his heart fall all the way down, down, _down_. His hair was blonde and styled, he knew in these modern times it was considered ridiculously attractive. His face was clean and he wouldn’t be surprised to learn he’d gone extra measures to make it look spotless. The clothing screamed fashion in every sense of the word and if Noel were around she would have an aneurism over that level of style.

But the thing that made Achilles stop were the eyes. They were bright green things that, against all odds, held so much life in them.

He was physically paralyzed in his shoes and faintly he registered the woman still screaming slurs at him in angry gibberish but it was drowned out over the ringing in his ears. She made a grab for him again and this time he did flinch, he wasn’t sure what got into him. He knew in that moment he wasn’t thinking at all when he grabbed that stupidly blonde hair and threw her head into his oncoming knee. There was screams, he registered the lady crumbling to the ground and holding her face with now inaudible cries.

He somewhat registered the boy trying to subdue him. He had grabbed his arms, trying to hold him still, but it just forced him to look deeper into those cursed eyes. Perhaps if he was more conscious he would recognize blood had begun seeping out from under his eyepatch and was smearing his face in a golden glow. He at the very least recognized the excruciating pain. It caused his head to scream in an unfamiliar way, it felt like prodding and cutting and tearing. Something was on the verge of it all, trying to rip its way to the surface, and it was all because of **those eyes**. _Those eyes, those eyes, those eyes, those goddamn eyes._ He just wanted them gone. He leaned his head back before slamming it into those pretty green eyes. The boy stumbled back holding what was definitely a black eye now.

Good, **it was no longer green.**

Suddenly he felt this unbearable cold itchiness spread throughout his neck— it clicked in an instant it was the sedation collar in effect. He hissed but otherwise felt his body involuntarily relaxing, the familiar drugs already taking effect in short circuiting his brain from whatever state it had previously been in. A hand tightly wrapped around his bicep and Noel was ushering him away from the scene. Hood already over her head and throwing a hat over his own. He groggily stumbled to follow her as a half lidded eye watched blurry movements.

It seemed like every time he blinked he was somewhere new until he was being roughly shoved into the car.

“I can’t believe you did that” he distantly heard Noel growl and all Achilles could do was smirk in her direction “mhm, _but I didn’t leave either...”_ he could hazily see her disbelieving stare before she turned back to the wheel.

**“You really are a monster, aren’t you?”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you confused on why Achilles suddenly attacked Chloe and Adrien: he has a lot of trauma. I’m not justifying his behaviour, what he did was horrible, but I am giving it context. 
> 
> Some of his reactions don’t make sense given current circumstances but trauma often has triggers. If someone (ex. Adrien Agreste) looks very similar to a person who was heavily involved in said traumatic event then its not too surprising Achilles may have a disproportionate reaction to him— and this goes for other characters to!
> 
> Also my god is Noel trying so hard to be nice to Achilles and then he goes and beats up a bunch of kids. It’s like a cat bringing back some dead birds to show their owner they do care. I love his hilarious idiocy but sometimes it hurts how dumb he is.


	3. Black Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien comes home with a black eye and a little more than anybody expected, even the kwami’s.

When Adrien arrives home he tentatively steps into the foyer already expecting his father to be there— and to nobody’s surprise he is indeed there.

Gabriel Agreste turns around to level his son with a heated glare but Adrien meets him half way with his own.

Gabriel begins walking down the steps at an intimidatingly slow pace “Adrien, would you care to explain to me what happened yesterday at 2:45 PM on your date with Chloe Bourgeois?” He was now on the floor but the way he held himself made his shadow loom threateningly over Adrien. However he was used to this and returned his fathers passive aggressive tactics with his own indignation “you seem to have a pretty good grasp on what happened if you know such precise details.” Gabriel scoffed disdainfully “don’t get smart with me, boy.” Adrien shrugged but his eyes were still narrowed and sharp, even with the black eye hindering his perception, _“all I did was toss it back.”_

The two stood in silence, seizing each other up for a long moment, before Gabriel let out a long drawn out sigh “what you did was completely and utterly foolish in more ways that I can describe—“ Adrien snapped at that “I was protecting Chloe! At least I didn’t stand back and do nothing, like some coward!” That comment had the desired effect as Gabriel seemed to flinch as though physically struck. His expression was beginning to lose its composure and morph into one of rage “Adrien, I’m doing what’s best for you! You may not understand it now but trust me that everything I do, _I do it because I care for this family!”_

Adrien let out a laugh but there was no real humour behind it, just cold hard bitterness, “yeah because you clearly care about what’s best for me, right?”

If there was any anger on the mans face it disappeared in a flash, replaced by a soft voice with desperate words “I do care about you, Adrien. Really I do. I’m just—“ as if to punctuate his point Nathalie came into the room with a ringing phone in hand “it’s a call from a possible client, Mr. Agreste” Gabriel stared at Nathalie with a somber expression as he lamely finished “—busy”

Adrien didn’t wait around before he began walking upstairs to his room, only quietly mumbling something about seeing him at dinner.

Gabriel barely heard it against the loud ringing in the background “Nathalie, please tell the client to call back. I... need some time to think.” As he started walking away he briefly stopped to look back at Nathalie “please bring an ice pack up for Adrien— and postpone his appointments for today. Thank you, Nathalie.” The woman in question diligently nodded before exiting the room while Gabriel walked to his own. As he made his fast strides to a secure room he felt Nooroo wiggling uncomfortably under his collar. He only allowed the twitching and anxious rumbles to continue for the ten seconds it took him to reach his door, walk inside, and then lock said door. He coughed to catch the kwami’s attention before he growled “what has gotten into you, Nooroo? If you continue moving like this you’ll draw unwanted attention to yourself!” Nooroo peeked his head out and now Gabriel could clearly see the thing wasn’t squirming— it was trembling.

_Nooroo was scared._

Gabriel arched a brow in question “I-I’m sorry master, but...” Nooroo hesitated, honestly unsure whether he could tell Gabriel or not. “Spit it out, Nooroo, I don’t have all day.” Gabriel rolled his eyes at the small creature as it hesitantly looked back at the locked door. “I believe... Young master Adrien may be in grave danger?” He sounded it out in a small and uncertain tone but the words shook him to his core as he spat “Nooroo...”

**“What do you mean by my son is in danger?”**

_________________

Adrien slammed the door as he stepped into his room. He practically ran to throw himself on his bed and scream into the nearby pillow when the door was safely closed.

He laid there screaming for a couple minutes before his body was finally able to relax enough for him to just lay face first in his pillow.

With no more anger to let out he could feel the pinpricks of brimming tears— and that was when Plagg chose to fly out “Adrien!” The creature cried out happily as he danced around his head “I’m so so so hungry for some Camembert!” Adrien just stubbornly stayed laying face down into a pillow, maybe if he screamed again Plagg would leave him alone? “Not a good time, Plagg...”

Plagg in response pouted at Adriens obvious mood “c’mon, Adrien! It‘s no good to just lay there wallowing in all that teenage angst!” Adrien rolled his eyes as he sat up to give a slight glare to the cat creature. “Uh huh, and what would be better then?” Plagg opened his mouth, a witty comment on tongue— when he immediately stopped.

His eyes widened and a look of utter surprise crossed his face as he stared at Adrien.

Adrien let out a groaning sigh, already knowing it was the black eye, it was admittedly uncharacteristic so the reaction was appropriate “it’s not as bad as it looks, Plagg.” Plagg just continued to gawk before he flew forward and began patting frantically at Adriens chest. Now Adrien was confused, “uh, Plagg?” He began but the cat just seemed content to continue rubbing his tiny paws on Adriens chest with a strange morbid curiosity. “What are you doing?” Adrien slowly sounded out as though to emphasize his confusion at the kwami’s suddenly strange behaviour.

Plagg looked up, jaw still hung in shock, “you have ichor all over your chest!”

“Ichor?” Adrien repeated in bafflement, he’d never heard that word before. Plagg hastily nodded “don’t you know? From Greek mythology? It’s at least stated in there.” He suddenly felt very embarrassed, cheeks flushing, for not being well versed on ancient legends given who he was at night. “I, uh, I actually don’t know. Can you please explain what’s going on?”

Plagg hummed as he finally backed off but kept his eyes narrowed onto his chest “I’m not sure if Tikki is okay with me telling you this, but...” Plagg finally looked up to meet Adriens eye and, for the first time since he’d met the cat, he actually looked very scared for him. “I think it would be worse if I let you go back outside _without knowing what you potentially encountered_.”

Adrien was beginning to feel the claws of fear drag at his mind. “Ichor is known as the blood of the gods. This blood is only found in creatures of the original dimension, such as angels or demons, it’s the same kind of blood me and Tikki have.” Adrien listened with rampant attention but found his brow furrowing “wait, wait, I’m sorry but _are you saying heaven exists?_ ” That caused Plagg to begin laughing hysterically “oh, oh my Adrien, you truly make me crack up!” Adrien just pouted in response as he fired back “hey, give me a break! I didn’t even know things like demons existed until a couple seconds ago!” Plagg just waved away his concerns as he continued “I think if I answer that question Tikki may have my head.” Adrien sighed but nodded in understanding “I guess I understand, I wouldn’t want to cross Ladybug either...” Plagg nodded before pointing back at Adriens chest “whoever got their blood all over you likely came from the original dimension. However we don’t call it blood, we call it ichor _because it’s golden and invisible to mortals,_ like you.”

Adrien eyes widened as he also looked down at the specific point on his chest Plagg seemed oddly fixated on. He didn’t see anything but the fact he couldn’t suddenly made a lot of sense.

“O-Oh, uhm, should we tell Ladybug about this?” Plagg grimaced but slowly nodded his head yes “ _when you’re transformed both you and Ladybug should be able to see it to._ ” Adrien nodded, his face falling into something serious.

**“Leave it to me to tell Ladybug, Plagg.”**

_________________

Gabriel now sat in an office chair staring down at the fidgeting Kwami “okay, so let me get this straight, in the four hours I left my son alone he pissed off a possible deity?”

Nooroo just slowly nodded, still uncertain and glancing in every direction as though this supposed monster could pop out of anywhere. Gabriel just stared at the frazzled creature before sighing something that suspiciously sounded like “I’m too old for this...”

Gabriel began getting up to access the secret room he had made for his Hawkmoth activities. “Well then I guess ill either have to scare this creature off or fight it away.” Nooroo gasped in horror “n-no, master, you can’t!” But Gabriel just ignored the squealing thing and its frantic pleas to not threaten a literal deity in the flesh. He made quick work of shuffling through the necessary files in his room. He had (illegally) obtained the mall recording of the fight, the transcript retelling from Chloe, among other research about the event.

He also had some of said research in his phone so he didn’t think twice of taking it out— only to once again see his missed call from earlier. However, now, there was a message attached to it from Nathalie explaining she briefly talked to the woman. Turns out she knew some really important details about what occurred with Adrien and his black eye. If he was going to delve into how to keep his son safe he should at least answer this call before he got engrossed in such gruelling work. Besides, she seemed like a very important lead now.

So without any further hesitation he clicked “call” on the number. It only took three rings before the phone was picked up “hello, is this the father of Adrien Agreste?” Weird phrasing. Despite the shiver that ran down his spine, like another instinct warning him something was wrong about this, he nodded “yes, I am, may I ask who’s calling and why you’re interested in my son?”

The voice seemed chipper on the other end as it replied with an easy laugh “thank goodness! I was really worried for a couple minutes back there that I perhaps had the wrong number. My name is Noel Yuki and I just moved here to Paris!” Gabriel just let the woman ramble for a bit, face twisted into confusion as she continued, “I actually called because I wanted to apologize for Achilles behaviour, I’m sure you heard about our two boys recently fighting?” Gabriel paused and then just... blinked. He blinked one more time. He stared at the wall wondering if he really just heard that right “Is the boy who punched Adrien your... son?” The woman nervously giggled “yes, he is, I am truly sorry about him. He’s known for being a little troublemaker every now and then.” Gabriel mutely nodded and tried his best to keep his composure but he was internally in absolute utter turmoil.

_That boy was not human so if this was his mother,_ **what the hell was he talking to?**

He could feel the cogs of his brain turning, turning, and turning... This is what he had wanted. He had wanted a chance to personally meet this creature and deem whether he would truly threaten Adrien or not. Once that was handled he could assess the situation he was in and even conduct a subtle and brief interview. This way he could figure out if the two also posed a threat to his goals or not.

He moved the phone away to take a shaky deep breath before his composure returned along with his normal gruff tone “I would like to discuss what happened over dinner and I would like you to bring your son so I can talk to him personally as well. I hope you understand why I won’t be bringing my own?” He could here Nooroo having a seizure in the back now (but he didn’t really care) “oh, yeah, that’s okay! And, yeah, yeah, I can’t blame you for not trusting Adrien around Achilles anymore. Where would you like to meet up?” He pulled up his schedule that Nathalie kept on his desk at all times “how about 6 pm? I have no further appointments until 8 pm.” He heard a hum of approval from the other end.

“I’ll see you then, Noel.”


End file.
